1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) and 2,6-diamino-3,5-dinitropyrazine-1-oxide (LLM-105) are thermally stable, insensitive molecules with crystal densities of 1.938 and 1.918 g/cc, respectively. These insensitive molecules are strongly hydrogen-bonded molecules that are generally insoluble in most conventional organic solvents but show some solubility in polar, aprotic solvents, such as DMSO, at high-temperatures. However, the high temperatures necessary to achieve a satisfactory solubility causes undesirable degradation of the material.
TATB and LLM-105 are also soluble in the super acids such as 96% sulfuric acid or trifluoromethanesulfonic acid at the >10% level. However, these are undesirable solvents for use in the laboratory.
The insolubility of TATB and LLM-105 has precluded attempts to recrystallize TATB or LLM-105 in large quantities in the past because of the requirement for either corrosive solvents or large amounts of solvent and high temperatures. Therefore formulation chemists have conventionally used only TATB or LLM-105 as supplied by the manufacturer, which may not have been optimal with respect to crystal morphology, amount of crystal defects and particle size distribution.